{"id":812,"date":"2012-08-30T17:55:38","date_gmt":"2012-08-30T17:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/?p=812"},"modified":"2022-07-14T21:40:09","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T21:40:09","slug":"building-a-continuous-improvement-culture-in-shared-services","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2012\/08\/building-a-continuous-improvement-culture-in-shared-services\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a Continuous Improvement Culture in Shared Services"},"content":{"rendered":"

Does your Shared Services<\/a><\/span><\/strong> organization have an embedded culture of personal and collective accountability to deliver increasing value to your customers that gives them a strategic advantage in their markets?<\/p>\n

With over 100 representatives from some of the most established Shared Services organizations around the globe, a highly interactive Peeriosity PeercastTM <\/sup>discussed the topic of building a culture of continuous improvement<\/a>. One of the themes that emerged was that for a Shared Services organization to evolve and move up the proverbial value chain, a common continuous improvement foundation is critical to shaping the organization and fostering a self-sustaining value creation culture. Most importantly, it creates a mindset of personal and collective accountability to deliver results.<\/p>\n

Prior to the discussion, a poll that attendees responded to was reviewed to baseline the status of continuous improvement programs of participants.<\/p>\n

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The \u00a0PeercastTM<\/sup> feature company, a large global organization with diverse scope and scale of services, led the discussion by describing the \u201cbuilding block\u201d approach they have used to implement the fundamental skills required within the fabric of the Shared Services organization. The approach is based on the premise that everyone in the organization must be armed with a common set of skills and tools in order to be accountable to deliver value individually and collaboratively. The training includes five building blocks:<\/p>\n

Foundation Courses (Attended by everyone in Shared Services)<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Introduction to Continuous Improvement (Awareness and expectations)<\/li>\n
  2. Yellow Belt (Exposure to methodology and tool-sets, coupled with personal accountability assignment)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Advanced Courses (Attended by subsets to embed advanced skill sets, where required)<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Communities of Interest (Leverage)<\/li>\n
    2. Green Belt (Build)<\/li>\n
    3. Black Belt (Coach and Develop)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      With all employees attending the two Foundation courses, the entire Shared Services organization has a structured, consistent language and approach to continuous improvement that allows for flexibility in the application that can leverage the individual\u2019s experience and goals. Every employee gains practical experience by applying what he or she is learning to problems that they have identified through their day-to-day experiences and wish to address and remedy.\u00a0 As part of the Yellow Belt process, each employee will:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Identify a problem to remedy<\/li>\n
      2. Receive coaching as needed or desired<\/li>\n
      3. Document and publish the project (one-page electronic format)<\/li>\n
      4. Apply the 7-step problem-solving methodology (within 90 days of course completion)<\/li>\n
      5. Meet one-on-one with the leader of Shared Services<\/a> to share their results<\/li>\n
      6. Meet with the Business Optimization Director for certification of the methodology used and results<\/li>\n
      7. Re-certify annually by submitting and completing additional projects<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The group discussion identified some critical components that are common to most successful continuous improvement cultures:<\/p>\n